Roberta Robinson, PhD

Dr. Roberta Robinson is a life-long learner, world traveler and literacy specialist.

The primary purpose of my having created this bibliography is to offer teachers and librarians a reliable resource for literature about the Middle East and Arab World. My hope is that anyone using this resource will come to realize the diversity that exists in this part of the world. My bibliography is by no means definitive and will expand over time, but it is a start. I have included a selection of titles for teachers hoping they will take advantage of this section to expand their own understanding of Middle Eastern, Arab and Muslim cultures.

We live in a globalized world and the need for better understanding of other cultures is critical if we are to ever have an impact on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Sharing a planet means understanding, collaboration, cooperation, and implementation of goals that will help prevent conflict and further destruction of earth’s environment and sustain a healthy planet for future generations.

​The cultures of the Middle East and the Arab World are some of the least understood cultures in the western world. Currently there is only one narrative circulating in the public sphere about these cultures and that narrative is primarily a negative one. Perhaps some of these stories will lead to a better understanding, to a more positive narrative about cultures I experienced while living in the Middle East.

Robinson - An Elementary Level Annotated Bibliography of Middle East and Arab Themed World Literature (PDF)

If you missed the Global Read Webinar Series in spring 2018, fear not! All of the webinars are archived and viewable online.

Once a month, the World Area Book Awards sponsored a 60-minute webinar on a book recognized by one of the awards and facilitate a discussion with the author on how to incorporate the book into the classroom. The spring webinar series focuses on social justice. We encourage you to read the books with your colleagues, students, and community, and then join us to hear more from the author. The books are appropriate for students in grades 7-12.

The 2018 series featured:

Margarita Engle, the national Young People’s Poet Laureate discussed her book Lion Island, the story of Antonio Chuffat, a young man of African, Chinese, and Cuban descent who becomes a champion for civil rights;

Author

By Greta Scharnweber, New York University

The Dead Sea is dying. One of the most unique natural sites on Earth, famous for its buoyancy and lofty salt and mineral contents, the Dead Sea is on most world travelers’ checklists. Yet many of the Dead Sea’s visitors are unaware that this amazing body of water is in dire environmental crisis. ​

Author

Barbara Petzen

As events have unfolded across the Middle East and North Africa, the CHOICES Program at Brown University has rolled out a series of three (so far) compelling lessons that pull together background information, media resources, academic expertise, and suggestions for classroom activities.

Author

By Joan Brodsky Schur, Village Community School

Whatever the future holds for Tunisia, the Jasmine Revolution will go down in history as the first blossom of the Arab Spring – a series of revolutionary uprisings that spread from tiny Tunisia, to giant Egypt and far beyond. ​